BSE Sensex snaps two-day fall RIL gains

The Sensex recouped early losses to end higher on Tuesday, snapping a two-day fall, led by a recovery in blue-chip shares such as Reliance Industries while bank shares such as State Bank of India gained on hopes of government capital infusion.

Banking shares led the gains after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said the government needs to infuse Rs 90,000 crore into state-run banks to maintain majority shareholding under Basel-III regulations.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram's remarks yesterday that India will clamp down on tax evasion and is on track to meet its 2012-13 tax collection target despite a sharp economic slowdown, aided investor sentiment.

“Chidambaram's assurances have somewhat brought confidence back in the market,” said Deven Choksey, Managing Director, K R Choksey Securities. “There is a renewed hope of a possible increase in diesel prices which would be positive as far as fiscal deficit is concerned,” he said.

The benchmark BSE Sensex rose 0.32 per cent, or 56 points to end at 17,440.87 points, while the 50-share NSE Nifty ended up 0.39 per cent at 5,274.00 points. State Bank of India added 1.31 per cent, PNB rose 1.2 per cent, Bank of India gained 2.64 per cent. Shares in energy conglomerate Reliance Industries gained 2.17 per cent on value buying, after having fallen 2.6 per cent in the previous two sessions.

Oil marketers rose on reports that government may raise diesel prices by Rs 4-5 per litre, after the monsoon parliament session ends on September 7, as oil firms' revenue loss has soared to almost half the retail price.

UBS maintained its positive view on India's media sector, mainly on increasing digitisation. It expected TV industry's subscription revenues to grow at a CAGR of 16 per cent during 2012-17, led by growth in the number of cable and satellite homes and rise in average revenue per user. Shares of Zee Entertainment gained 4.9 per cent, Sun TV added 0.82 per cent and Dish TV shares ended 6.3 per cent higher.

Reliance Communications Ltd, India's second-biggest telecom carrier by customers, will next year explore options to reduce debt, including the possible sale of a stake in its mobile tower arm, its chairman said.

The firm's shares ended 4.7 per cent higher. Indian software services provider Tech Mahindra Ltd rose 1.31 per cent, after it said on Tuesday it has bought Hutchison Whampoa Ltd's back-office call centre business in the country for $87.1 million.